Cloud Deployment Models – A Sales Guide For IT Providers
This is the fifth and final part of our comprehensive sales guide, How to Sell Cloud Computing Services to Your Clients, designed to help cloud resellers improve how they sell cloud services to their clients and prospects. In our last sales guide, Overcoming Cloud Computing Objections, we reviewed common cloud computing objections and discussed how to address those objections to help you sell cloud computing services to your clients and prospects.
After reading this guide, you’ll be better prepared to recommend the appropriate deployment model based on the specific needs of your sales prospect. In this sales guide, we’ll review the benefits of each of the most common deployment models in the following sections:
- Offering Scalability with a Public Cloud
- Providing Peace of Mind with a Private Cloud
- Leveraging Flexibility with a Hybrid Cloud
- Utilizing Community Clouds
- Wrapping Up
1. Offering Scalability with a Public Cloud
The public-cloud deployment model is the most common, as well as the most popular, deployment model available today. It’s what people usually have in mind when they talk about cloud computing or cloud hosting. Public cloud environments are entirely owned, deployed, monitored, and managed by the cloud service provider. Public-cloud users come from all walks of life and are often entities with moderate to large computing requirements.
Users can provision and access cloud resources such as storage, computing and software on a metered, pay-as-you-go basis. They can source any number of virtual servers, cloud storage, applications and other resources instantly. Users don’t need to spend a single penny upfront to cover the CAPEX to create and manage such cloud resources. With public clouds, the computing is shared by multiple businesses, each having its own share of computing resources (HDD/RAM/CPU).
Some of the organizations that are suitable for the public-cloud deployment model include:
- Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that can use a public cloud to host their applications, source storage, backup data, files and more.
- Software developers or publishers who can deliver their software on a SaaS platform.
- IT service providers / VARs/ MSPs who can use the cloud to deliver IT solutions and services.
“Public cloud users tend to be entities with moderate to large computing requirements.”
If your sales prospect fits into one of the above profiles, offering a public-cloud solution makes sense. AwesomeCloud offers the scalability and elasticity of a public cloud with our virtual private-cloud-based White Label Cloud Services.
2. Providing Peace of Mind With a Private Cloud
If your sales prospect expresses concerns regarding security and privacy, we recommend suggesting a private cloud as a possible solution. A private cloud provides unshared/dedicated IT infrastructure and resources that are both scalable and secure. Because private clouds are used by a single business, they don’t offer the same cost-savings as a public cloud. Private clouds are highly recommended for organizations with stringent security, privacy and regulatory concerns. There are two types of private cloud: full private cloud and semi-private cloud.
Full Private-Cloud Deployment Model:
This kind of cloud is entirely owned, deployed and managed by a single organization. A full private cloud provides cloud-like functionality within the organization, including virtual machines, server and storage virtualization, as well as software delivery. Full private clouds have limited capacity and they’re not as economical as are other deployment models. However, they supply the most stringent security, privacy, and IT control. A typical full private cloud might be used by a bank and all of its branches or offices, providing banking software, computing resources, and storage. Some of the organizations most suitable for a full private cloud include:
- Banks requiring an on-premise cloud-computing infrastructure that delivers software, computing, storage, security and backup.
- Hospital and health service providers whose strict regulatory requirements necessitate the implementation of private cloud and virtualization solutions within their IT facilities.
- Military services needing secure and protected cloud-computing technologies to automate their processes, store data, and share strategic knowledge.
- Government institutions requiring massive dedicated computing pools.
Virtual Private Cloud:
This is a type of cloud that is provisioned from a private-cloud service provider, like AwesomeCloud, but it’s dedicated to a client, and it is unshared and separate from other semi-private cloud customers. A dedicated server is a common example of a semi-private cloud running exclusively for a single customer separate from the public cloud environment.
A virtual private cloud is accessed over a secure VPN or web connection and provides an enhanced level of control of the cloud environment to the customer. Organizations looking to cost-effectively leverage the power of a secure cloud are well-suited for a virtual private cloud.
Some of the organizations most suitable for a semi-private cloud include:
- Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with security requirements.
- IT service providers (VARs/ MSPs) with clients who have security needs.
- Application developers (mobile/web/SaaS) who can utilize a dedicated server to develop, test and deploy applications and services.
- External/partner banking applications that can be deployed or delivered through an external cloud.
- E-commerce stores and web portals that can be hosted and managed within a private-cloud environment on the provider’s premises.
“Private-cloud users express concerns regarding cloud security and privacy.”
If your sales prospect fits into one of the above profiles, offering a virtual private-cloud solution makes sense. AwesomeCloud offers virtual private-cloud services to our channel partners as part of AwesomeCloud’s Cloud Reseller Program.
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3. Leveraging Flexibility with a Hybrid Cloud
The hybrid cloud deployment model enables organizations to keep their data secure and controlled in either an on-premise or private cloud environment while also provisioning applications and shared storage from the public cloud. It is a combination of public and private cloud deployments.
“The hybrid cloud model is ideal for organizations that don’t fit neatly into a public or private cloud deployment model. “
Some of the organizations most suitable for the hybrid cloud deployment model include:
- SMEs having multiple IT resource requirements and interested in using the public cloud to balance the traffic/computational load from private to public cloud.
- IT service providers that can use a combination of private and public cloud models to service their clients.
- Application/software developers who can use the public cloud for testing, integration, and deployment.
If one of your clients or prospects isn’t a perfect fit for a public or private cloud, we recommend suggesting a hybrid cloud solution. Hybrid clouds are a great for prospective clients who want to gradually ease into the cloud.
4. Utilizing Community Clouds
The community cloud is a type of cloud deployment that is shared by a group of users or organizations. A community cloud is generally provisioned using public cloud technologies; however, it can also be delivered using a private or even a hybrid model. The community cloud can consist of a number of individuals or organizations working on a joint project and/or sharing knowledge and data among each other.
“The community cloud is a type of cloud deployment that is shared by a group of users or organizations.”
Some of the organizations most suitable for the community cloud model include:
- Scientific research organizations that can use the community cloud to perform work on joint projects, research, and experiments.
- Government organizations that can use SaaS applications to perform business processes that are deployed and delivered through a community cloud.
- Educational institutions that can use a shared community cloud to perform research and/or share knowledge.
As a IT Service Provider (MSP / VAR), you’re probably not going to encounter many sales prospects that require a community cloud. If you happen to come across an organization requiring a community cloud deployment, it’s always a good idea to be as knowledgeable as possible about this type of deployment, even if you don’t offer it.
5. Wrapping Up
With a little bit of luck and thorough preparation, you will be able to provide each of your prospective clients with the cloud deployment model that best suits their needs. We hope that this sales guide on cloud computing deployment models proved to be helpful and insightful. If you have additional insights into offering particular types of deployment models, we’d love to hear about them! Feel free to reach out by sending an email over to Cara Pluff, our Director of Sales, connecting with us on Twitter using the @awecloud handle, or by completing a brief online form to get more information about joining our Cloud Reseller Program.
